In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
5 Questions for Tim Kaine on Israel
Sen. Tim Kaine is a moderate Democrat who boycotted Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Nathan Guttman, the Forward’s Washington bureau chief, asks him about Iran and whether Democrats are drifting away from Israel. Nathan Guttman: Did you face any political cost for deciding not to attend Netanyahu’s speech? Senator Tim Kaine: I’m not dumb, I…
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Opinion Tzipi and Buji Go to the Market
With only a few days to go until the election, Israeli co-leaders of the Zionist Union — Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog (aka Buji) — wanted to do a little last-minute politicking. So they visited Tel Aviv’s outdoor Carmel Market. They were really excited about it. REALLY excited. See, we eat pears! We’re personable! Could this…
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Opinion Israel’s Arab Party Is Handing Bibi the Election
Knesset Members from Israeli Arab parties announce a joint list in Israel’s election / Getty Images “Bibi, Buji, Zehava and Issawi: All of the Jews are the same,” noted leaders of the Arab Balad party at a recent executive meeting. Balad Party activists are willing to lump together Netanyahu with Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On, who…
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Opinion What If Bibi Loses? Imagining Life Without Netanyahu
Rotating campaign billboard shows Netanyahu and Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog / Getty Images No one even dared speculate about it before. Only now, less than a week before they go to the polls on March 17, Israelis are finally allowing themselves to seriously consider the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might actually lose…
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Opinion Jeb Bush’s Lurch to the Right
Two developments this week bode ominously for Jewish Republicans. First, Republican primary voters can’t stand Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. In a new poll by the Wall Street Journal, Bush had roughly equivalent negatives to Hillary Clinton. 42% of Republican voters said they couldn’t see themselves supporting him. 57% said the same of Christie. The…
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Opinion A Teachable Moment at UCLA
There is no way to characterize the recent incident at UCLA in which a Jewish student’s judgment was challenged simply because of her religion, as anything other than pure bigotry. And therefore, pure anti-Semitism. No other explanation or excuse can suffice. The student government deserves disapprobation for even raising the question of a student’s loyalties,…
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Opinion Why Is Hillel Chief Eric Fingerhut Shunning J Street — and 1,000 Pro-Israel Students?
On Monday, I learned that the chance to speak to over 1,000 student pro-Israel activists is not enough to get Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO of Hillel International, in a room. I have two questions: why not, and if that’s not enough, what is? Let’s start with the first: why did Fingerhut withdraw from the…
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Opinion Europe’s Undercover Yarmulke Journalists
Getty Images (JTA) – Sending a yarmulke-wearing man out with a hidden video camera to document anti-Semitism on the streets of Europe, particularly in Muslim neighborhoods, is quickly becoming a journalistic trope. First, in January, a reporter wearing a kippah walked around the heavily Muslim neighborhood of Malmo, Sweden, where he was assaulted and cursed…
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Opinion Are Lithuania’s Swastika-Studded Marchers Really ‘Fascists’?
All photos by Daiva Repečkaitė “Lithuanian fascists march beneath swastikas near execution site of 10,000 Jews.” When this recent headline appeared in the Jerusalem Post and a few other outlets, it reminded me of the time I’d casually thrown the “fascist” label into an email exchange with classmates. “We can meet in the center after…
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Opinion Anatomy of a Smear
Here is the anatomy of a smear campaign. I receive a press release from public relations executive Ronn Torossian sent out on February 21, a Saturday, slamming the president of UJA-Federation of New York, Alisa Doctoroff, for being a donor to the New Israel Fund. The NIF, Torossian declares, is an extreme left-wing organization “committed…
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Opinion A Letter to the Israeli Voter
I am not writing this letter to the people who will most likely read it: Ashkenazi liberals, Tel Avivians and a handful of Anglo-born, National Religious folks who enjoy getting angry with leftists. I am writing to the largest sectors of Israeli society: Mizrahim, the middle class, those who are Masorti (traditional) but perhaps not…
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Sports Memes, mashiach and ‘Torah-cyclopedias’ put a Jewish twist on the Knicks’ title chase
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Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
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